Tesla CEO Elon Musk has implied again that he is ‘cash poor’ even as the world’s richest person is pacing his way to be the first trillionaire ever in history in terms of net worth.
Addressing speculation about his growing fortune, Musk explained that most of his net worth is tied to his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, which are largely there in form of stocks and not real cash.
“Already have thousands of times over. My “net worth” is almost entirely due to my ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. I have <0.1% that is cash,” he said.
Musk was replying to a post shared by the X account of Kalshi, a web-based prediction market platform, which predicted that there is a 75% chance that the Tesla CEO will become a trillionaire this year.
In his reply, Elon Musk further clarified that many Tesla and SpaceX employees receive stocks or options and more than 80% of Tesla is owned by retail investors. This signifies that any value creation will also benefit the other investors along with Musk himself.
“Tesla and SpaceX employees all receive stock/options and Tesla is >80% owned by retail investors and index/pension funds, so value increases apply >80% to them,” he said.
Elon Musk’s wealth — Will he be a trillionaire?
This is not the first time Elon Musk has indicated he is cash poor. “Some people think I have a lot of cash,” he had said in 2019. “I actually don’t.”
The billionaire, a native of South Africa, founded SpaceX in 2002 and joined Tesla in 2004. Last year, a $1 trillion pay package was approved for Musk on specific conditions.
Amid all this, speculation has been ripe that Elon Musk will become the first trillionaire in the world by this year. According to Kalshi’s predictions, there is a 78% chance that Musk will become a trillionaire by 2027, especially after SpaceX merged with xAI taking the combined value of the entity to $1.25 trillion. Musk has a 43% stake in the company, making it worth more than $530 billion.
He also owns around 12% stake in Tesla, valued at $178 billion along with another $124 billion in stock options. This does not include his record-breaking pay package at Tesla, which he will only get after the company fulfills its ambitions over the next decade.
How much cash does Elon Musk have?
Elon Musk currently has a net worth of $849.3 billion, according to the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list. This reflects all his assets and cash, including stocks, options, real estates, and other things he owns.
Musk claimed that a large chunk of this money depends on the valuation of SpaceX and Tesla, and that it is not exactly actual money.
However, he did say he has less than 0.1% in cash with himself. This translates to around $850 million.
While this sum of money is nothing compared to Musk’s empire, it represents a lot of liquid asset when considered individually. His wealth has shot up over the past year amid rising Tesla valuations and his stake in companies like SpaceX and xAI.
